1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for efficient use of bandwidth and resources in a peer-to-peer network environment. More specifically, a system and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate efficient use of bandwidth are disclosed.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, to obtain anti-virus product updates and/or signature files, computers rely on a pull approach in which each client or server computer must retrieve the updated anti-virus file directly from a source via the Internet. For a computer network, a network administrator may allow anti-virus signature files to become out of date because there are simply too many clients on the network for effective management. Alternatively, the network administrator may schedule the clients to automatically pull the updated anti-virus file from the Internet when each client logs onto the computer. However, such an approach can result in a bandwidth crunch such as in the early morning work hours when most users log onto their computers.
Connections to the Internet from within an organization, particularly from a small to medium sized organization, may be relatively slow. For example, a small to medium sized business may share a single cable or DSL modem, a 56K modem, or an ISDN line. In contrast, in a typical work group interconnected via a LAN, connections on the LAN are generally much faster, the typical LAN being 100/TX (100 Mbps). Peer-to-peer networks thus partially address the need for efficient use of bandwidth and resources in a computer network.
However, conventionally, peer-to-peer distribution is not secure and is particularly susceptible to attacks since a desired resource or a file on the network may be compromised as a file distributor does not have control of the peer servers that are passing around copies of the file on the network. This is of particular concern for files that are actual executable binaries and/or for files containing potentially critical data such as anti-virus product updates and signature files. Furthermore, for product updates such as anti-virus product updates, a requesting peer may not be able to determine whether the product files on other peer computers are up-to-date or outdated.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate efficient use of bandwidth to ensure that the shared file has not been compromised and/or is up-to-date. Such secure and verified sharing of resources over a peer-to-peer network ideally expands network resource sharing into broader applications such as enterprise software management and services.